stupid boy- did you forget that it is winter now, and this is my house?

One of the major turning points of WW2! Hitler’s attempts to invade the Soviet Union, codenamed Barbarossa- ended disastrously and shattered the image of Nazi invincibility. They initially made good progress- until General Winter came to the aid of Russia. Still, the winter wasn’t abnormally colder than other years- plus the Soviets had to contend with the exact same conditions. Hitler, however, was so convinced of Soviet inferiority that he believed the conquest of the USSR would be long over before the winter set in.

So there was no proper logistical planning: the Wehrmacht had no winter uniforms, and were unprepared for fighting in conditions below freezing point- compared to the Soviets who were well-used to such weather and had specially adapted their uniforms, guns and tanks to the winter. Many German soldiers suffered frostbite, malnutrition or froze to death because the supply lines stretched so far back over roads in very poor condition. Guns and tanks iced over, and some panzers even broke down completely or got stuck in mud (the Soviets had a different type of tank with wider treads that minimised this problem). This was an incredibly costly campaign for both sides- but the Germans made expensive mistakes that frittered away their advantage.